Facebook Fears

Do you know who all of your "friends" are on Facebook?
I mean do you REALLY know? Have you ever met them and confirmed that they are who they say they are?
Think about it - that 19 year old hunk with the six-pack who you confirmed as a friend yesterday could turn out to be a 33 year old psychopath. This is exactly what happened to Ashleigh Hall, a 17 year old girl from the north-east.
She met a man named Peter Cartwright on Facebook. She was attracted to the bare-chested pictures of him on his profile. He said he was 19 years old. They arranged to meet.
19 year old Peter Cartwright turned out to actually be 33 year old Peter Chapman, a serial sex offender who had once raped two prostitutes at knife-point.
So, how did this 33 year old man get this 17 year old girl into his car? Simple - he said he was Peter's dad. He then took her to a quiet place where he raped and murdered her.
So, I'll ask again - do you really know who all of your "friends" are on Facebook?
That's the problem, isn't it - we can be absolutely anybody we want online. I could say I was a 17 year old boyband candidate with a washboard stomach and a promising career as a striker for Manchester United, instead of the middle aged grumpy old git with a paunch that I really am. Anyone can say anything.
A mate of mine went on one of those online dating sites, and he showed me the picture of a woman he'd been chatting to and was hoping to meet up with. I thought he was taking the piss. This woman he'd been chatting to actually had the nerve to put an old picture of Lily Allen on her profile and claim it was her. Now, I don't know Lily Allen personally, but I would like to take a guess that she's not a filing clerk from Walsall. I pointed all of this out to my friend, and even showed him the Lily Allen picture on the internet, and he was furious. Needless to say, he expressed his feelings quite colourfully to this woman in an email.
Of course, that's a quite silly situation, and I wouldn't dream of comparing it with the tragedy of poor Ashleigh. But you can see the similarities - you really don't know who anyone is on the internet unless you already know them.
The internet is a place where anyone can be anything they want to be. The 30-year-old nerd who still lives with his mom and spends most of his time in his bedroom can call himself a cyber-terrorist. He can go on World of Warcraft and be a gallant knight on a white steed instead of the fat bloke in his underpants eating cheesy Wotsits that he really is.
People like him are - for the most part - harmless. But then you have that darker, shadowy world of the internet predators who seek out vulnerable people to do them harm. People like Peter Chapman; the worst kind of scum. Like rancid Hyeanas, they lurk in the background, taking their time, looking for the weakest member of the internet herd before zoning in on them. They prey on our children, our siblings and our parents. No one is safe, and nothing is sacred.
So, one last time, I'm going to ask the question - do you REALLY know who your "friends" are on Facebook?